Sunday Lunch at The Griffin Inn, Monmouth Street, Bath

Where shall we go for Sunday lunch in Bath? That’s probably the most-asked question on my X/Twitter (@ThePigGuide) timeline, at all times of the year. You’d be forgiven for thinking that it’d be the easiest question to respond to, too; after all, multiple pubs, restaurants and even bars in Bath offer multiple twists and turns on the Sunday lunch theme, from the traditional to the quirky, with brunch and even small plate selections fitting in somewhere along the way.

But the thing is, not all Sunday lunch ‘experiences’ are equal. We may have choice (always a good thing), but there are so many considerations to take into account before you make that choice. Who are you sharing that precious Sunday lunchtime with: a deux, with friends, with cross-generational family members in tow? And don’t forget the dog…! On from all that, what’s your idea of what actually constitutes a Sunday lunch, these days: meat and three veg, fish and chips, or something a little more unusual/light/just… different? And then, of course, there’s the all-important matter of budget to consider; Sundays should be all about no stress, not bank balance stretch.

So, for the purposes of this review, I’m highlighting a Bath pub that easily accommodates all-comers from couples to family groups without either party impinging or infringing on the other (and yes, the dog is welcome too), offers a neat little roast-alternative menu alongside the traditional mains event and, at bill time, genuinely represents good value for money, meaning that it hereby races to the top of my Best Sunday Lunch in Bath chart: bring on the weekend? Bring on… The Griffin.

If you’d like to know why I love The Griffin, click on this link to a recent Prandial Playground review: it tells you all you need to know about this glorious little hostelry’s history, vibe… and the all-important, affordable, top-notch food. And if you’d like to know why I’m raving about The Griffin’s Sunday menus in particular, here’s why:

We started our Sunday kick-back with The Griffin’s Ultimate Bloody Mary, which lives up to its name on all levels courtesy of a vodka/spice kick that revitalises your senses and a celebratory feel that doesn’t feel too over-the-top for a Sunday (if you know what I mean?).

We moved on to the classic Sunday starter that is the classic Prawn Cocktail: a generous bowl of classic good stuff bringing fat, juicy prawns, lettuce and tomato together in perfect, Marie Rose sauce-infused harmony, subtly spicy in all the right places and as soul-soothingly uplifting as any starter gets.

On from that, the Sunday spotlight moment: perfectly pink ripples of roast beef for him; beautifully tender, slow cooked pork belly for me, the meat creamy-soft beneath fat crisped to satisfyingly frangible perfection. There were vegetables in abundance: roast carrots, roast parsnips and exemplary roast potatoes; vivid green spears of broccoli, spicy red cabbage, the kind of cauliflower cheese that you could easily dive in to as a stand-alone dish (but really is best served like this, with all that), lashings of silky, flavour-packed gravy… and oh, those massive, featherlight Yorkies! It was, all told, the ultimate Sunday roast: nothing missing, nothing ‘quirky’ to distract from its glory, and not a single component hitting less than top marks for overall execution.

Yes, we could have ventured off the Sunday-specific selection over to alternatives such as the aforementioned fish and chips, and lots of other interesting dishes too (again, I refer you to my previous review for more on what’s going on ‘over there’) – but I’m one of the many people for whom Sunday lunch means a roast and a roast only, so we stayed put. We could have indulged in a classic pudding or two too (the puds really are worth holding out for here) but that would have meant not eating again until breakfast on Tuesday and not mid-morning on Monday, as we ended up doing after our feast. And we could have left feeling as though we’d had a fair-to-middling Sunday roast that wasn’t really worth getting out of bed for, as one does after too many Sunday roast ‘experiences’ – but I absolutely guarantee that you won’t do that at The Griffin.

So: where shall we go for Sunday lunch in Bath? Now you know.